Freshman Jackie Wegner (pictured) teammed with junior Azarri Badawi to post straight set wins over No. 6 Florida International and Georgia State during day two of the Doctors Hospital FIU Surf & Turf Tournament.

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. -
The Tulane University sand volleyball team posted a pair of victories, including a 4-1 win over host and sixth-ranked Florida International, in day two of the Doctors Hospital FIU Surf & Turf Tournament on Saturday at the beaches in Fort Lauderdale.

In addition to claiming the program's first-ever win over a nationally-ranked team, Tulane also posted a 4-1 victory over Georgia State while falling to No. 1 Pepperdine, 5-0. By going 2-1 on Saturday, the Green Wave improve to 7-2 on the season.

"The girls played great," Tulane head coach Alan Segal said. "They battled and they played really well. We won two of the three matches and the Pepperdine match was in between. We wanted to play decent against them, but that wasn't our focus. Our focus was to beat the teams in our region, which is Florida International and Georgia State.

"We played well against Pepperdine, but we played great against FIU. It was a great match. Everybody played great. It was a great team win today. They had fun, they cheered for each other and they had fun playing against a really good team. We played at a high level and that's what we needed to do"

In the win over the Panthers, Tulane posted straight-set wins at No. 3 and 4 while rallying from set-one defeats to win in three at both No. 1 and No. 5 action. Junior Azarri Badawi and freshman Jackie Wegner scored the Green Wave's first point with a 21-15, 21-6 victory over FIU's Jessica Gehrke and Camila Rosado while the sophomore tandem of Grace Weaver and Anna Wruck won back-to-back 21-13 contests over Maria Coukoulis and Laura Duffy on Court 3.

Tulane's No. 5 tandem of freshman Mackenzie Moore and sophomore Olivia Utt came up short in their initial outing against Emily Podschweit and Tina Toghiyani, 21-15, but bounced back to take the next two sets 23-21 and 17-15. Rookie Sophie Asprey and junior Cori Martone followed a similar script at the top of the line-up as the duo dropped a 21-18 decision to Kate Stepanova and Ksenia Sukhareva before tying the match with a 21-18 win in the second set and wrapping up the overall win with by a score of 15-13 in the third.

All four of Tulane's wins over Georgia State came in straight sets. Asprey and Martone rolled past Jansen Button and Sara Olivova in No. 1 play, 21-19 and 21-17, Weaver and Wruck posted a 21-17, 21-16 win over Alexis Elmurr and Molly Smestad on Court 3, Badawi and Wegner downed Karlee Kavanaugh and Kaitlynn Hufstetler at No. 4, 21-16 and 21-13, and Moore and Utt rolled past Nikki Senopoulos and Alexis Townsend at No. 5, 21-16 and 21-8.

"It says a lot about the girls," Segal said of his team's performance. "They decided that they wanted to have fun and they're enjoying the game. They're willing to learn and willing to listen. They've grown each week and we're getting better. We're getting better every time we play. It all goes back to their hard work, how much they want to win and how hard they want to push themselves. The only thing you can do is push yourself, and they've done that."

The five-team tournament concludes on Sunday with five participating teams taking part in a pairs tournament. Each team's tandems will be paired up with their counterparts from other programs and a single-elimination tournament will begin at 7 a.m. (CDT).

After the conclusion of the Doctors Hospital FIU Surf & Turf Tournament, the Green Wave will head to Atlanta for the Georgia State Sand Invitational from April 6-7. Tulane will conclude the regular season at the Fiesta at Siesta Tournament from April 12-14 in Siesta Key, Fla.

The mission of the Tulane University Department of Intercollegiate Athletics is to support the university's purpose of enriching the capacity to think, learn, act, and lead with integrity and wisdom. This is ensured by providing our student-athletes and staff with opportunities for competitive success and personal growth within the context of sportsmanship, teamwork, and integrity.